Mid Year Report: Foreclosures Continue To Decline

In the first half of this year, there were nearly 87,000 California properties with foreclosure filings – a 48% drop from the previous six-months and a 60% drop from a year ago.

“California is moving out of the spotlight as one of the epicenters of foreclosure activity.”

RealtyTrac’s Daren Blomquist says Florida now has the country’s top foreclosure rate. California has slipped to number 12 in the list of metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates. Blomquist points out - that’s after five years of consistently being in the top ten.

“If you compare California to Florida which is continuing to see increases in foreclosure activity, really it boils down to the fact that California had a more streamlined foreclosure process.”

…and was able to work through the inventory of distressed properties more quickly during the recession. Now, there’s a big slowdown in California foreclosures as the recently enacted Homeowner’s Bill of Rights is making it more difficult for lenders to repossess homes.

Nevada posted the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate in the first half of 2013. Blomquist says more than 16,000 Nevada properties were subject to a foreclosure filing…about 1,800 of them were in Reno.

“That was a 17% increase from the previous six-months and so that’s why we’re seeing that jump there is that rebound following that legislation.”'

That legislation Blomquist is talking about is a Nevada foreclosure prevention law that recently expired…prompting foreclosure activity to bounce back. He says Reno “foreclosure starts” hit a 20-month high in May.

Blomquist says the Stockton and Sacramento areas saw fewer homes repossessed by banks during the first half of 2013.

“None of the California cities are in the top ten in terms of foreclosure rates for the first half of the year. Stockton was the highest of any California city at number 17 in terms of its foreclosure rate. And Sacramento really slipped down – is at number 57 for the first six-months of the year.”

Blomquist says the foreclosure rate in Sacramento is down 62% from a year ago…in Stockton, the numbers are down 57%.

Steve is the voice of Capital Public Radio News as anchor of Morning Edition and Insight. He covers stories on a wide range of topics including: business, education, real estate, agriculture and music. Steve also produced stories for CapRadio.org. Read Full Bio